


singular exception

by ifonlynotnever



Series: (except for marc) [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-08 12:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1132703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifonlynotnever/pseuds/ifonlynotnever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's so damn stupid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	singular exception

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** Duende - Jeff Skinner/any or all the Staals :D? [ [here](http://ifonlynotnever.tumblr.com/post/73061797573/duende-jeff-skinner-any-or-all-the-staals-d) ]
> 
>  **duende:** unusual power to attract or charm [i.e., jeff skinner in a nutshell]
> 
> Basically, I took "except for Marc!" and ran with it.

It's stupid.

Marc's not usually attracted to men - it's happened before, sure, though not very often - but there's something about the way Jeff Skinner grins and shakes his hand when they first meet that gets the back of Marc's neck hot and his heart stuttering.

It's stupid: Skinner's not his type, is not sharply handsome, not tall and solid and serious, not Marc's age or slightly older. And he's Eric’s rookie to boot, which should by all rights turn Marc off more than it does - which is to say, not at all.

It's stupid, and it doesn't go away. It doesn't go away after Skinner turns out to be pretty hot-tempered, or after he stops being a rookie. It doesn't go away after Marc goes out to a club in the city and fucks a guy with dark hair and an easy laugh and a great smile and strong fingers. It doesn't go away, and it doesn't go away, and it doesn't go away, and Marc hates himself for actually getting a little jealous when Jordy gets traded to the Hurricanes.

Marc doesn't want to be a 'Cane. God, he does not want to be a Hurricane. What he said stands: Eric is too mouthy, and Marc has put up with being bossed around by his older brother for too long already.

And it's better for Marc's self-control that he doesn't have to see deep dimples and flushed cheeks and wrecked hair on a regular basis. Better that he doesn't have to watch the casual way Jordy and Eric touch Skinner, like he belongs to them, to their team, _to them_. Better that he's not there, that he doesn't have to constantly feel the overwhelming urge to put his mouth on Skinner's neck, to press his fingers into the edges of his smile, to scrape his teeth against the hinge of his jaw.

It's bad enough when he goes down to Raleigh for a few days during the Olympic break and Skinner comes around Eric's house to watch the USA-Sweden game with them, sprawled next to Marc on Eric's couch, pressing them together hip to knee. As it is, it's difficult to concentrate on Cally's valiant, if unsuccessful, attempts to put one past Hank; it becomes impossible when Marc idly remarks on how Hank's probably trying twice as hard against him and Mac and Steps, and Skinner - who is still not Marc's type, who is too open, too charming for his own good, who should not make Marc _want_ the way he does - Skinner laughs like it's the most hilarious thing he's ever heard, doubling over with his hand burning hot on Marc's knee.

Marc has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from doing something idiotic. He ignores the looks Jordy and Eric give him, the ones that look a little too knowing, too sympathetic.

It's so damn stupid.


End file.
